Updates & Events

2013 Annual Conference & Iverson Bell Symposium

About Iverson Bell

Iverson Bell, DVM was a veterinary educator and advocate for diversity and veterinary medical education. A native of Texas who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, Dr. Bell received his DVM from Michigan State University in 1949. He was a founding faculty member of the Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1950. After a year at Tuskegee, Dr. Bell moved to Indiana, where he established a small animal veterinary practice. He played an active role in helping establish the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, and was a two-term vice president of the AVMA and president of the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Bell was a tireless advocate for improved diversity within the veterinary profession, and mentored hundreds of veterinary students in his role as a practitioner and visiting lecturer at Tuskegee and Purdue. Dr. Bell was a charter member of the group that started the diversity seminar which now bears his name.

The first seminar was held on May 31, 1972, at Purdue University. Seminars have been held biannually since then. The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges continues to honor Dr. Bell by recognizing an individual who has embodied the spirit of tenacity and commitment and who has made significant contributions to the promotion of diversity and the inclusion of under-represented veterinary minorities in academic veterinary medicine.